The Eighteenth Gate stood majestic and extraordinary, an immortal ancient gate towering deep within the starry sky, bearing the vicissitudes of time and countless traces of war.
At the very center of the trial ancient gate stood a magnificent ancient pagoda, soaring high into the extraterrestrial starry void, bathed in the radiance of myriad celestial bodies.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
At this moment, under the gaze of all the trial-takers on the ancient path, several figures could be seen streaking across the sky. They were none other than Nine Phoenix Great Ability, Ye Chen, and their party. The group directly ascended to the central ancient pagoda.
Within the pagoda was a grand hall, and there was a particularly special and ancient portal, running through from front to back without any actual door.
Nine Phoenix Great Ability led Ye Chen to this empty portal. At this moment, Nine Phoenix Great Ability, the Guardian Great Ability of the Eighteenth Gate, and three other Great Powers all unleashed special seals. Mysterious and profound Dao runes continuously manifested, then swished through the air to land upon the empty portal.
Hum—
The empty portal, previously covered in dust, suddenly erupted with a dazzling radiance that filled the sky. The portal itself shone brilliantly, then abruptly plunged into profound depth, as if it were a bottomless abyss capable of devouring everything.
From within this abyss, a peculiar aura flowed forth. It was not a vast and supremely powerful presence, nor was it ancient and weathered. Instead, it was a spiritual essence, brimming with wisdom, as if containing boundless intellect.
"Little friend, please follow us."
Led by Nine Phoenix Great Ability, Ye Chen followed them into the empty portal. The instant they entered, the portal returned to normal, appearing ordinary once more, but the group had long since vanished.
Stars shifted and time flowed. Upon entering the portal, Ye Chen sensed a peculiar transformation, as if traversing billions of years and countless great worlds, yet all of this occurred in the blink of an eye.
Ye Chen immediately understood: the Void Divine Hall existed within another special spacetime, different from that of the Ultimate Ancient Path.
This spacetime involved extremely profound laws of the Dao of Time and Space. Without mastery over these two Daos, even a supreme existence like an Ancient Monarch would find it difficult to locate.
It was evident how deeply hidden the Void Divine Hall was. The Guardian Great Abilities of the Ultimate Ancient Path needed to pass through a special spacetime portal to enter it.
When they reappeared, the group found themselves in a pitch-black, endless void. Darkness and silence seemed to be the eternal themes here, with only a single majestic and magnificent divine hall ahead, flowing with surging divine light that illuminated this endless void, becoming the sole eternal presence in this spacetime.
"Is this the Void Divine Hall, which holds the most wisdom and inheritances of this ancient cosmos?"
Ye Chen raised his head to look at this Void Divine Hall, able to sense the vast and boundless Dao information it contained. It could be said to encompass the true myriad Daos of the heavens, containing all forms of the Great Dao within.
"That's right. This is the Void Divine Hall, the divine hall containing the most Dao wisdom in the heavens!"
Mentioning this Void Divine Hall, even Guardian Great Abilities like Nine Phoenix Great Ability felt a sense of pride, for it was the hall that collected the most Dao inheritances on the Ultimate Ancient Path, encompassing everything imaginable.
As he spoke, Nine Phoenix Great Ability led Ye Chen to the front of the Void Divine Hall. However, at this moment, they sent a voice transmission, telling Ye Chen to behave properly later.
Ye Chen's expression grew slightly tense.
Suddenly, right in front of the majestic Void Divine Hall, space twisted, and a blurry figure appeared within. It sat cross-legged in the void, appearing very gaunt, with hair as silver-white as snow. It seemed on the verge of death, like an old monster with one foot already in the coffin, and it looked as if the other foot would soon follow, indicating that its time was running out.
Yet, when facing this old monster, Ye Chen felt all the hairs on his head stand on end in an instant. His pupils contracted to the size of pinpoints, all because of this old monster before him.
Ancient Monarch!
As a Chaos Saint Body, Ye Chen's intuition was undoubtedly extremely sharp. Especially having faced Ancient Monarchs like Sovereign Xuelan, Sovereign Batian, and the seven Ancient Monarchs of the alien race up close before, he immediately realized that this seemingly decrepit old monster was precisely a terrifying and unimaginable old monster.
An Invincible One of the Ultimate Ancient Path!
The Ultimate Ancient Path was indeed unfathomable. This old monster before him was the second Invincible One of the Ultimate Ancient Path he had encountered in all these years.
The moment the old monster opened its eyes, there was no trace of brilliance, only a relatively calm and turbid gaze.
Yet, when this ordinary gaze swept over Ye Chen, it made his Chaos Saint Body involuntarily shudder with fear. Moreover, the Chaos Great Cauldron autonomously soared into the sky, descending with thousands of strands of primordial Chaos Qi, and the Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd clanged as it shot skyward, acting in self-preservation.
All of this was solely because of this old monster before him, demonstrating just how terrifying the other party was. Ye Chen even had an intuition that this old monster might be even more powerful than Sovereign Xuelan.
Who exactly was he?
Ye Chen was very puzzled in his heart but dared not ask.
At the same time, the old monster looked at the Chaos Great Cauldron and the Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd that had shot out from Ye Chen's body. Even someone as calm as him revealed a glimmer of brilliance at this moment. In an instant, a terrifying Ancient Monarch aura surged and swelled, suppressing this endless void space.
"It's Qin Wuxiang's battle weapon. You are a descendant of the Battle Saint lineage, and also a cultivator of the Chaos Supreme Dao..."
In that brief moment of scrutiny, the old monster had already discerned much about Ye Chen. Moreover, Ye Chen had a feeling that under the sweep of that gaze, all his secrets seemed to have nowhere to hide.
But Ye Chen used the Chaos Great Cauldron to descend with swathes of primordial Chaos Qi, submerging himself and blocking the old monster's probing. He also grasped the Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd, watching the other party with great caution.
There were some secrets within his body that absolutely could not be known by anyone.
"Hmm?"
The fearsome Ancient Monarch old monster let out a sound of surprise. However, at this very moment, Ye Chen suddenly felt a bone-chilling sense of dread. The Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd erupted instantly, boundless dazzling golden light boiling forth, flooding this endless void. Wisps of Emperor's Might began to awaken, as if about to annihilate everything.
For at this moment, that old monster's figure shifted slightly, appearing before Ye Chen in an instant.
So swift, so sudden, that even with Ye Chen's extremely sharp senses, he could hardly react.
"So fast!"
Ye Chen's expression changed, but he was no ordinary person either. Primordial Chaos Qi exploded as he fully awakened the Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd and smashed it toward the old monster before him.
"Don't!"
Nine Phoenix Great Ability and the other four Guardian Great Abilities reacted, but it was already too late.
The old monster merely gave a faint smile, raising a withered, bark-like palm without the slightest fluctuation of law, and simply met the Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd, which was awakening with threads of Emperor's Might.
Clang—
There was no earth-shattering, terrifying rending, nor any great explosion. Under the astonished gazes of all, everyone saw only that the fearsome Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd was caught by that withered, bark-like aged hand, held steadily in its palm. Even though threads of Supreme Emperor's Might surged within, it was useless; it couldn't harm that hand in the slightest.